What Brendan Had to Say on His Sixth Birthday

My really big guy is  . . . really big. He turns six today. But he has really looked and acted like a six year-old for years. He continues to be the sweetest, kindest, coolest and most handsome boy a momma could ask for. Here is what is on his mind this year.

 

Favorites:

• Breakfast -- Pancakes

• Vegetable -- Corn

• Drink -- Juice

• Lunch - Pasta

• Dinner - Bolognese

• Toy -- LEGOS

• TV Show -- Electric Company

• Game --I would say bingo.

• Book -- LEGO books

• Restaurant-Brick's Pizza

• Holiday - Christmas because you get presents

• Animal -- Bunnies.

• Color - Gold. And the second is blue.

• Thing to do at school - Free choice centers. 

• Sport - Baseball

What do you want for your birthday? A couple of things. The LEGO Echo Base from Star Wars and the Millennium Falcon.

What do you love about each person in our family?

• Dad: He plays baseball with me.

• Mom: I love that you are really nice.

• Eleanor: That she sometimes plays with me down in the basement.

• Colin: Sometimes he lets me use his bug -- you know, that little thing that he rides around on.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Pittsburgh.

What are some of your wishes for this year?I want to have fun and play with my friends in first grade and be in the same class as Sebastian.

What makes you happy? LEGOS.

How old is your mom? 32 (thanks B man).

How tall is your mom? Ummmm. I am not sure.

What is her favorite thing to do? Play with us.

What does Dad do for a job? He works at the Sears Tower.

What is your favorite thing about Dad? He likes me a lot.

What is Mom's favorite food? Chicken and broccoli and beans.

What do you and Mom do together? Go to the store.

What makes you sad? When Colin is not nice and he hits me.

What is Dad’s favorite food? Casseroles (for the record, this could not be farther from the truth).

What does our family like to do together?
Have fun and celebrate. There is this commercial where this guy is sitting at a table and he says, "Let's celebrate." Me: Does that remind you of us? B: "Yep."

What going to be when you grow up? Maybe a policeman.

Who are you going to marry? I am not sure.

Anything else you want to talk about now that you are almost six? The only thing I really want to tell you is I need to know how much dollars the ice rebel trooper set is. That is what I want to know. It is a set that comes with Hans Solo and the Tauton and I do not know how much it costs. Can we at LEGOs on the computer now?

Takeaway from this interview: Life for Brendan is pretty much about star wars LEGOs. If you are interested in his answers from last year, you can find them here. 

What she had to say on her 8th birthday

I haven't blogged on A Hen and Two (now Three) Chicks once in 2012 (lots of reasons why -- too much to get into right now).  But if this blog exists for one reason, it is the annual birthday interviews. The show must go on! 

Today, Ellie is 8 years-old. She is as fabulous as always. Here is what she has on her mind this year. Keep at it, sweet girl!

Favorites:

• Cereal- Life cereal

• Vegetable- Green beans and broccoli

• Drink- Lemonade 

• Lunch -  Mom's homemade mac and cheese and grilled cheese

• Dinner -Beef tenderloin with Dad's good sauce, green beans and mashed potatoes

• Toy-Right now, it is probably my Barbies

• TV Show-Electric Company

• Game- Hide-and-seek

• Book-Pretty much all of the chapter books. Favorite? I like Ivy and Bean.

• Restaurant- I like Milk and Honey. Why? Because it is close to our house and I like to go there and have grilled cheeses. But I don't like that they come with a pickle.

• Holiday-I like Thanksgiving because I like the turkey. And I like my birthday.

• Animal or doll - I like all animals. I like my American Girl Doll Kanani and Gabby the Giraffe.

• Animal - I like all animals. No favorite really.

• Color - Turquoise.

• Thing to do at school - Art projects.

• Sport - I like all of the sports that I know how to do.

What do you want for your birthday? I want to have a good birthday and hope that everyone has a fun time.

If you could change your name, what would you choose? I like my name.

What do you love about each person in our family?

• Dad: I like that he teaches me sports and that he makes good dinners.

• Mom: That you are nice and you send me to school to I can learn and because you also make good dinners.

• Brendan: I like to play with Brendan and if I get bored, I always get to play with Brendan and Colin.

• Colin: He is funny and when he is calm, I like to play games with him. Colin also says funny things.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? Maybe Paris.

What are some of your wishes for this year? I hope that we will see lots of doggies. And that we get to play outside a lot and go to the pool and that there is nice weather.

What makes you happy? My family and my friends.

What is your favorite things about Mom? I like that sometime she is funny and that she gives me ideas for things and helps me with things.

How old is your mom? 35 -- almost 36 (time to stop asking this question)

How tall is your mom? I don't know. Really tall. Maybe like 2 1/2 Ellies tall.

What is her favorite thing to do? Play with our family and have fun with people and not do too much work.

What does Dad do for a job? I think he is a lawyer. I think it means that he helps people with problems and I think they are called cases and he has to solve them.

What is your favorite thing about Dad? I like that he teaches me how to do things and if I need help with something, he will teach it to me.

What is Mom's favorite food? You like lots of foods. I am going to guess that your favorite is maybe pizza.

What do you and Mom do together? Sometimes if we go somewhere to do errands and we go shopping together and get people things.

What makes you sad? When people aren't nice to me.

What is Dad’s favorite food? French onion soup.

What does our family like to do together? We like to go places and have fun.

What going to be when you grow up? Maybe a teacher or a lot of other things. I am not sure.

Who are you going to marry? I don't know.

Anything else you want to talk about now that you are almost eight? I want a dog. I might want my ears pierced. I am not sure. It is almost my First Communion. I am going to be in third grade. And we are redesigning my room. In third grade, I am going to get a desk and a folder bag and it has all kinds of stuff that you work on in it. I am wondering what third grade teacher I am going to have.

Happy Birthday to my sweet (and super big) girl. If you are interested in her answers from years past, you can find trace back through the annual posts starting here.

What Colin Had to Say on His 3rd Birthday

Time for my favorite blog posts of the year -- the birthday interview! This is the first time that I've done a birthday interview with Colin. The process was . . . interesting. In truth, this interview took place in three different parts because he would quickly lose interest and he also insisted on asking me some questions as well (like "What color is my new backpack?" or "What should you make me for lunch today?"). It was slow-going.

Anyway, here is what my babe had to say on his third (so big!) birthday!

Favorites:

Cereal: Life cereal

Vegetable: Carrots

Drink: Juice

Toy: Truck

TV Show: Mickey Mouse Club House

Game: My football guys game from Santa. I put them in my new backpack to bring to Auntie LaLa’s (my Aunt Patti) House.

Book: Millie Moo

Dinner: Soup. Vegetable soup.

Lunch: Mac and cheese

Breakfast: Waffles

Holiday: Presents!

Animal: Rhinos! Don’t laugh Dad!

Stuffed Animal: My two bunnies and I go to sleep every time.

Color: Blue

Thing to do at school: Play a lot and have milk a lot.

Sport: Football

What do you want for your birthday? Have ice cream cake

If you could change your name, what would you choose? No, I want to be Colin still.

Where would you like to go on vacation this year? To a football field.

What are some of your wishes for this year? More Christmas.

What makes you happy? My two bunnies.

What makes you sad? Lions in a cave.

How old is your Mom? 3

How tall is your Mom? Like this tall (showing with hands). Like a hundred pounds.

What is her favorite thing to do? Do baseball.

What does Dad do for a job? He goes to work at the Sears Tower.

What is your mom's favorite food? Broccoli and chicken.

What is Dad’s favorite food? Sauce.

What does our family like to do together? Go get our Christmas tree.

What going to be when you grow up? I going to be a football player for the Steelers.

Who are you going to marry? Mommy.

Anything else you want to talk about? Napkins. Groceries. And batteries. Hockey Jerseys. Also football guys.

Well, it’s been good talking to you. I hope you have a good year being three. Okay, thanks Mom.

An Early Boo From Us to You

Big day tomorrow . . . .

The Apple of My Eye

We have a lovely, little apple tree right in the middle of our city backyard. When I laid eyes on this 80+ year-old tree, my mind ran wild with the possibilities. I was smitten from the start.

Our little tree produces fruit every other year. It is fascinating, messy and overwhelming all at the same time. Watching the progression from spring until fall is truly amazing. Cleaning up the dozens and dozens of apples that fall to the ground each day is not as amazing (although every squirrel in Wicker Park is helping to do their part by carrying away half-chewed apples to save as a snack for later).

The picking and apple sauce making have become family rituals. And I love it when one of my littles says to me, "Mom, will you make me an apple pie?" How could I say no?

In a week or two, most of the apples will be gone. We're doing our best to make use of as many as we can (and giving away apples to anyone who is interested).

I already can't wait for spring of 2013 when I see the pink buds appear and we can do this all over again.

Let's Go Bears!

There is a crazy amount of jersey wearing, tackling and (attempted) punting going on in my yard these days.

And when they aren't playing football, they seem to be watching football.

So Go Bears.
And Steelers.
And the Wolverines.
And the Fighting Irish too.

{so much football}

Attention: Moms Interested in Making Some Extra Money

Over the summer, I told you about a unique, local company called Focuscope. This company is looking for moms who want to share their opinions in exchange for a very fair compensation. Your thoughts and ideas in exchange for money. That simple.

There is one upcoming opportunity in particular that I want to tell you about. Focuscope Market Research is looking for Moms with children under 13 years of age to participate in a research survey on the topic of children’s entertainment. This project is taking place at their Chicago and Oak Park offices. The compensation is $125.00 for a 2 hour focus group (not bad for two hours of your time). Prescreening is required in order to qualify. And don't worry, absolutely no sales are involved in this experience. Focuscope just wants to hear your opinions.

Interested? Please call 708-386-5086 and ask to speak with Daisy in order to learn more. And Don't delay -- the deadline to apply for this opportunity is September 23rd.

Cross-posted on Wee Windy City.